In Sports News this Monday: Slavia-Sparta derby ends in draw after very
late penalty for hosts – ref needs to be “million percent” certain in
such cases, says Sparta boss Rada; league leaders Plzeň sack manager
Pivarník after seeing lead shrink; and ice hockey great Patrik Eliáš
retires.

Slavia fail to go top but at least save point after late penalty in derby

Slavia Prague - Sparta Prague, photo: CTK
Slavia Prague were in the unusual position of being able to go top of the
league at this late stage of the season if they triumphed over old foes
Sparta at their Eden stadium. In the end, however, Slavia remained one
point off top spot and were indeed hugely relieved to get out of Sunday’s
encounter – one of the in one of the most anticipated Prague “S”
derbies in some time – with a point from a 1:1 draw.

Both goals came late on, with Sparta’s Václav Kadlec opening the
scoring in the 81st minute and the hosts’ Milan Škoda converting a
penalty in the first minute of time added on.

The referee seemed to hesitate before awarding the spot kick and
Sparta’s recently appointed manager Petr Rada questioned whether the
correct decision had been made.

“I’ll tell you one thing. I played professional football for 20 years.
I played for the national team. And for a referee to award a penalty in the
91st minute, he’s got to be one million percent sure he’s making the
right decision. Otherwise, he shouldn’t blow his whistle. I need to watch
it again and I don’t want to make any judgements. But to award a penalty
in the 91st minute, in a derby, the ref’s got to be very experienced –
and one million percent certain.”

League leaders Plzeň sack coach Pivarník after downturn in results

Roman Pivarník, photo: CTK
Slavia had had the opportunity to go top of the league after leaders
Viktoria Plzeň drew 2:2 at home with Teplice on Saturday. It was the third
time Plzeň had dropped points in seven league outings since the start of
the second half of the season and it proved the last straw for the club’s
bosses, who sacked manager Roman Pivarník following the game. The reigning
Czech champions will now be helmed by Pivarník’s former assistant
Zdeněk Bečka in tandem with Pavel Horváth, who was for some years a
talismanic midfielder for the West Bohemians.

Retirement of Eliáš, second most productive Czech in NHL history,
confirmed

Patrik Eliáš, photo: CTK
The retirement of Patrik Eliáš, one of the greatest Czech players ice
hockey players, has been confirmed. The two-time Stanley Cup winning
left-wing underwent knee surgery last May and was hoping to make a comeback
to the NHL. However, his club New Jersey Devils announced on their website
that the 40-year-old would not be returning to the ice. Eliáš spent his
entire 21-year NHL career with the Devils and is the second most productive
Czech player in the history of the league after Jaromír Jágr. He made 40
appearances for the Czech Republic and captained the national team at the
2010 Winter Olympics.